Repotting Pleurothallids

[Jerry Delaney]

All these years of growing, I never tried any of the Pleurothallids until just recently. They came in tightly packed sphagnum and a couple of them really needed repotting. In trying to remove the old decomposing moss, I pretty well butchered most of the roots. Would someone please give me some tips in repotting these so I don't ruin the roots on all of them. Thanks.

[jbigio]

I have several of them. They like to be in moist medium so I use straight sphagnum Moss and pot them in a basket which allows the moss to dry faster. I would not try to pull all the old moss you will as you found out brake roots I use a kitchen sink spray hose to gently wash as much of the old moss off the roots as possible then I put them in as small a basket or pot as the root ball will fit. Keep them moist but not soggy. If you grow any Masdevallias they take the same culture.
Good luck
Joe

[Jerry Delaney]

Thanks for the tip Joe. I have a couple more that need to be repotted and I will try your method. I had thought I would just move them one pot size and put new moss around the old. However, when I pulled them out of the pot the old moss was beginning to break down in the center. Once again, thanks for the tip.

[kid a]

I have a restrepia in need of repotting but am nervous about breaking the roots too! I'm glad you posted this thanks guys!

[jbigio]

No problem that what this site if for----help

[Ellen]

I grow lots of pleurothallids, in plastic pots with pure sphag, net baskets with pure sphag, bark, bark mix, and mounted. They grow like weeds in all of these situations provided they have reasonable humidity and don't get overheated for long periods of time. I prefer mounted or sphag. Draculas mostly need hanging baskets because the flower spikes grow downward and out through the bottom of the basket. Pleurothallid roots will regenerate fast if damaged. Jbigio's method of using a water spray to wash the old medium off of the roots before repotting is probably the best way to deal with cleaning old rotted medium off. When you do repot, don't pack the sphag so tight that it prevents air circulation to the roots and/or prevents water from reaching them. It should be tight enough to keep the plant firmly in the pot (so that you can pick the pot up by the plant) but no tighter. Good luck with repotting. Pleurothallids are great plants!

[Ellen]

Kid a, If you're nervous about repotting your Restrepia, you could get one of its keikis established first as practice and "insurance". As you probably know if you have one, Restrepias keiki like crazy. All you have to do is gently break off the largest one that has roots, stick it in sphag, and let it grow. Once you see a new growth appearing, you'll know all is well. Then you'll have two plants, one of which you can eventually trade for another pleurothallid...

[Jerry Delaney]

Thanks Ellen